Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Character interview with Avery: THE WITHERED SERIES Character Interview Session 1.

Today we are sitting down with Avery Whitlock, our heroine from WITHER, book 1 of the WITHERED SERIES.

Interviewer: “Growing up on the streets is a hard way to live. Do you think learning to fend for yourself at a young age really helped prepare you for the apocalypse?”

Avery: “Sure. Not everyone grows up in a Leave it to Beaver sort of home. My mother wasn’t exactly the best role model. She worked a lot, had a thing for bad guys and drowned her sorrows in the bottom of a bottle after my dad skipped town. My brother left not long after we moved to St. Louis so I was on my own a lot.

You learn some valuable lessons when you have to take care of yourself. Sometimes you do things that other people would snub their noses at just to eat. Sometimes you trust the wrong people. You learn by trial and fire. I guess that made me tougher than most girls when facing our new world.”

Interviewer: “Why do you think you stuck by your mother’s side after the world started falling apart? In the beginning you could have escaped without much trouble, yet you remained.”

Avery: “I’ve asked myself that question more times than I can count. Obviously there was no love shared between my mother and I. She and I were pretty much strangers in the same home. I avoided her and she liked that. It wasn’t until her accident that left her in a coma that I actually spent any time with her.

Part of me thinks maybe I stayed for closure. Maybe I just wanted her to wake up and admit that she’d wronged me. I don’t know…it doesn’t make sense, but then again, when has bitterness ever done so?”

Avery: “Honestly, I was shitting my pants most of the time and praying no one noticed. I’m not so good at letting people in, or needing them for that matter. I’ve always been a bit of a loner. I like my space. I like to be on my own. After Cable, the marine that saved my life at the hospital, got me back on my feet I was too stubborn to consider that he might actually be a good guy. So I did the idiotic thing and tried to make it on my own.”
Interviewer: “And how did that work out for you?”
Avery: “I got kidnapped, twice. Yeah, it could have gone better.”

Interviewer: “So then Cable saved you again?”

Avery: “Yeah. He’s got this really annoying hero complex but after a while you sort of get used to it. Actually, I guess that’s not really being fair. Cable’s a good guy and those are really rare in this world, especially now. I owe him a lot and that’s hard to admit.”

Interviewer: “So with the world changing rapidly around you, how did you decide what the best course of action might be to stay alive?”
Avery: “People.”
Interview: “Can you elaborate on that?”

Avery: “Look, when you’re out there and your ass is on the line, you need someone there to watch over it for you. You can’t do it on your own. Well, you probably could for a short time but eventually you’re going to slip up. I had to learn that even though I may not have wanted people in my life, I did need them.”